Blues still No. 1 in NHL Power Rankings

Heading into the Olympic break, the St. Louis Blues continue on top of the TSN.ca NHL Power Rankings, a spot the Blues have held seven times to this point in the season, the most of any team.

The Blues, who have on regulation loss in the past eight, are ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Chicago Blackhawks.

On a 5-1-1 stretch in the past seven games, the Montreal Canadiens gained ground to move from 13 to nine.

The Philadelphia Flyers, on a four-game winning streak, move from 20 to 16 and the Minnesota Wild, who have thrived despite injuries, are up from 23 to 20.

Heading the other way, the Winnipeg Jets had back-to-back losses for the first time under Paul Maurice and, as always, goaltending is a concern, contributing to their slide from 12 to 17.

The Carolina Hurricanes slip from 16 to 19, though if they are really prepared to keep goaltender Cam Ward in the background, that ranking would improve based on how well Anton Khudobin has played when given the opportunity this year.

No team should be welcoming the Olympic break more than the Vancouver Canucks, who have two regulation wins in the past 20 games and desperately need to get healthy if they are going to mount a late-season charge to recapture a playoff spot. In any case, the Canucks' slide sees them drop from 19 to 23.

Among the rest of Canadian teams, the Toronto Maple Leafs sit at 15, up a couple of spots, and their highest placement in the rankings since late November.

A blowout loss to Boston in the final game before the break knocked the Ottawa Senators down a couple of spots, from 22 to 24, while the suddenly-improving Edmonton Oilers are up from 28 to 26, and the Calgary Flames are down from 27 to 28.